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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 3 Hansard (26 March) . . Page.. 641 ..

MR DE (continuing):

Please compare what this Government and other governments have done in terms of providing for cycling as an alternative transport means in the ACT with what has been done or has not been done by other governments of all political persuasions elsewhere in this country and overseas. By any stretch of the imagination, the ACT has some of the best cycle paths and facilities for cyclists in the world. We can always improve, but those members who tend to criticise from time to time should look at what we have. Let us appreciate what we have and what has been done, and will continue to be done, by this Government, and what was done by the previous Government as well. I present the following paper:

Cycling initiatives - ministerial statement, 26 March 1996.

I move:

That the Assembly takes note of the paper.

MS TUCKER (3.24): I would like to congratulate Mr De Domenico on this initiative. I think it is very important. The Greens often speak about the importance of looking at alternative forms of transport in urban areas, and bike riding is a major part of that. It was featured in the working paper on transport and the ecologically sustainable development paper, the Federal paper. It is interesting to see how the community response to it is changing gradually. When we were first interviewed by the media prior to the election it was pulled out as a rather odd, quirky bit of our policies that we were interested in bike tracks. Now it is obviously becoming a subject for general discussion because it is a very important part of reducing motor car use in the urban environment. I am pleased to see that we are having this work acknowledged. Because Mr De Domenico has done this, we are happy to applaud this work. Do not say that we never say anything nice about you.

The other thing I have to comment on is an issue we have continually raised. We raised it when the random inspection of motor vehicles was introduced. There is a concern about the effect of fumes, particularly if tracks are on roads. We understand that some cyclists want to have on-road tracks. We asked to see a further response from you regarding how many of the registration checks are going to be on-road and not stationary in car parks, so that we know that dirty cars are picked up. I think this is an area that needs further work, and I hope that we can work with you on that.

There is also the issue of safe cycle routes and the marking of bike tracks which, as you said, raises the awareness of motor car drivers. We applaud that, too. We have to say, though, that we need to see adequate resourcing for improved facilities for bikes. We will be continuing to ask for that. We also encourage further investigation of the other facilities that you mentioned in your paper, such as secure places to leave bikes, and the use of buses and bikes, which is something that ACTION has talked to us about a little bit. There are some models in Europe. It is another really interesting thing to follow up. It can mean that people who live a long distance from the city can ride a certain distance and then bus, so they need to catch only one bus.

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